According to a Reuters report from Aditya Kalra, Sudarshan Varadhan and Mohi Narayan;

“More than 40 million households – about a quarter of all in the country – are yet to be electrified and about 300 million of India’s 1.3 billion people are still not hooked up to the grid.”

The new scheme will offer a free service to connect and power houses in some of the country’s poorest areas.

“No fee will be charged for electricity connection in households of poor citizens,” Modi said at an event where he launched the project.

Reuters noted that:

“The project, which will be mostly funded by the federal government and run by the state-run Rural Electrification Corp Ltd, also aims to cut use of kerosene, the government said.

The pledge to provide power could face challenges as it remains difficult to provide electricity in remote towns and villages. The government said it would distribute solar power packs with a battery bank to un-electrified households in such areas.

Another challenge will be to fix finances of debt-laden power distribution companies in states that struggle to buy and supply electricity to consumers.”

Colin J McCracken is a content designer, editor and writer from Ireland. Giving form and function to the My Good Planet vision, it has been his role to design and develop the online platform, content and presence of the project.